Zefanya grew up in Jakarta surrounded by gospel, 1990s R&B, and acoustic pop. Her late mother, Julia Josephine Wirjoatmodjo, sang gospel music, bringing young Nicole along to rehearsals and Sunday services. Those early mornings instilled a rigorous vocal discipline and a natural ear for multi-part harmony. By age nine, Zefanya had taught herself to play acoustic guitar. By 13, she had taken to YouTube under the handle "nzee24," uploading acoustic covers of artists like Frank Ocean alongside stripped-back original compositions.
Her first major public milestone came in June 2014. At age 15, she entered the Ride to Fame competition organized by Cornetto and won the chance to open for Taylor Swift’s Red Tour stop in Jakarta. Standing alone in an arena packed with over 8,000 spectators, she delivered a confident, unvarnished acoustic set. That evening confirmed her songwriting instincts were built for scale, sparking an intense underground following among Indonesian teenagers who tracked her bedroom uploads on SoundCloud and YouTube.
